In brief: News for lawyers

Legal Aid Ontario is building a more user‑friendly public website and we need your help to make sure it serves the needs of private bar lawyers. Giving your input is quick and easy: all that’s required is 30 minutes of your time to complete three online feedback exercises (10 minutes each). You can complete the exercises from…

Beginning Monday, September 17, for a three‑month trial period, authorizations for bail review applications with a medium or strong chance of success will be guaranteed. How it works You can submit the bail review application via Legal Aid Online. While it may take a few days, authorization is guaranteed when, in counsel’s professional opinion, the review…

In November 2017, Legal Aid Ontario’s Mental Health Appeals Program (MHAP) began once again considering merit for Consent and Capacity Board (CCB) appeals. A two stage modified merit assessment test requires area committees to consider reasonable likelihood of success of appeals based on the strength of legal arguments put forward by counsel in opinion letters. Appeals with…

Occasionally Legal Aid Ontario performs a function called a purchase order close in which completed certificates are archived and unlisted from Legal Aid Online. On May 27, Legal Aid Ontario will initiate a purchase order close for concluded appeals and all cancelled, final billed or terminated certificates that were completed prior to June 1, 2012. Certificates that will…

All-day event on June 27th, in‑person and online 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Legal Aid Ontario’s (LAO) Refugee Law Office (RLO) is pleased to present the 2018 Refugee Law Office Conference, taking place at a new venue, the Jackman Law Building, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, 78 Queen’s Park West, Toronto, Ontario. We will be bringing an exciting lineup of speakers…

If you’re an experienced criminal lawyer who’s interested in advising Legal Aid Ontario on cases that are either factually or legally complex, then we want to hear from you. We have an advisory committee made up of criminal lawyers who: review written materials including budget requests hear oral submissions from lawyer applicants help lawyer applicants…

Legal Aid Ontario has refined its process for the charges heard separately exception to ensure all new certificate requests meet legal aid eligibility requirements. The new process includes answering additional questions to help determine if the new charges meet the criteria when you make a request for a separate certificate through Legal Aid Online. As…

  In June 2016, the Divisional Court released its decision in Wang v. Lin. The court held that the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters (Hague Service Convention) applies to family law cases. This means that, when a respondent lives in a country that is signatory to…

Legal Aid Ontario’s Mental Health Appeals program will once again consider merit for Consent and Capacity (CCB) appeals, beginning November 20, 2017. Appeals with little or no merit will no longer be funded. The new merit assessment test will include a mandatory stage, requiring area committees to consider reasonable likelihood of success of appeals based…

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is working with the Ontario Court of Justice, criminal defence bar and the Ministry of the Attorney General on a pilot project to fund matters in participating Ontario Court of Justice locations where a second JPT or substantially similar event has been scheduled. This pilot will run until March 31, 2018…